Every module that you install in Geronimo, whether it is a service, application, resource, etc., can be configured via a deployment plan. These deployment plans are XML files based on XML Schemas containing the configuration details for a specific application module or component. The Java EE specification defines standard deployment descriptors such as web.xml, application.xml, etc. The Java EE 6 specifications also allows the usage of annotations directly in the Java code to mitigate the development burdens associated with creating Java EE 5 applications.

Annotations in the Java EE specifications is a new metadata facility where many java entities such as classes, fields, packages, methods, etc. can be decorated with annotations. These declarations can reduce, and in many cases eliminate entirely, the necessity of using deployment plans. When both annotations and a declarations in a deployment plan are provided the whe declarations in the deployment plna will take precedence. This allows changes to the deployment characterics of Java EE 6 modules without having to change the code.

Geronimo as a Java EE 6 certified application server supports all the annotations in the Java EE 6 specifications. These annotations are listed and described below, along with the corresponding Java EE 6 specification, and the deployment plan XML element(s) they can replace (if applicable):

Here is a list of all Java EE 6 annotations supported by Geronimo:

JSR

Annotation

Deployment
Descriptor
Tag(s)

Supported in

Notes

JSR 250(Common Annotations)

1. javax.annotation.Generated

The only annotation with SOURCE retention. All the others are RUNTIME.